Recent Blog Articles

The Family Excerpt Two

I have been truly blessed to have such a wonderful family. When it came time to finally put

words to paper, I couldn’t leave them out, in fact, they all became fair game.

The following is an excerpt from my new book…

ENJOY AN EXCERPT FROM MY BOOK,

INSPIRED BY MY FAMILY

The Phone is Going to Ring

Having been back stage at major musical productions, I have seen all that goes into “putting on a show.” Props are especially important and the position of prop master is critical to a production. Props are assigned to a specific place on a specific prop table. There are prop lists that are checked, double checked and tripled checked, every night. Once, while I was singing in Italy, my costume required me to wear beautiful gold and blue jewelry. There was a prop assistant assigned to my necklace, bracelet and earrings. Her only job was to ensure that I wore them on stage and then they were returned to their proper place.

I attended a performance with my cousin, Kim and when the curtain opened, there was a phone on one of the tables in the scene. I whispered to my cousin, “That phone is going to ring.” She looked at me perplexed and then about half way through the scene, there was a phone call for one of the major characters. I knew that every prop has a meaning and a purpose and I knew that the phone on the table is on a prop list, and has an assigned place on a prop table, and I knew there was one person responsible for the phone being on stage and making its way back to the prop table, and if someone is going to all that trouble, the phone is going to ring.

This is how I look at students with learning disabilities. I see the phone that is going to ring but only because I have had the opportunity to be back stage in the world of special education and I have seen firsthand how it all works. My cousin didn’t even notice the phone on the table and why would she? She has never been back stage. My cousin represents the general education teachers who have been thrust onto the stage of special education without warning, without permission, without consultation, without training and without resources. They need our help because whether they are prepared for it or not, they are major characters in this production, the phone is ringing, and the call is for them.